Prepping Prep for the 21st Century

Prep for Prep and the Fault Lines in New York’s Schools by Vinson Cunningham
The New Yorker, March 2, 2020

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In this nuanced article, Vinson Cunningham recounts the forty-year history of Prep for Prep, weaving in his own life story as one of its early recruits and alumni. At the heart of the article is the tension that Cunningham experiences between the program’s early, laudable goals to give gifted and talented students from under-resourced areas of New York City a chance to access elite, high-quality education, and the ways in which programs like Prep for Prep can mask systemic, racist inequalities in American education. Cunningham clearly sees his own experience with Prep for Prep not only as the source of much good in his life, but also as a source of confusion and pain. Now, as the organization seeks to grow and stay relevant for the 21st century, Cunningham underscores the challenges it faces as it assesses its original mission and leadership. Any independent school educator will be moved and challenged by the thoughtful, rigorous questioning that Cunningham brings to his historical and personal analysis of Prep for Prep. The article serves as another important lens through which we should think about the balance between giving marginalized individuals access to education and opportunity, and simultaneously, urgently, agitating for change in the larger political systems that create the need for these programs.